Sorcerer's Rage - The Darkness Returns
by Leopold Goenitz
Summary: Did some fixing on the first chapter and uploaded the next chapter. Enjoy...
1. Default Chapter

Author: Leopold Goenitz  
  
Email: Leopold_Goenitz@hotmail.com  
  
Disclaimer: Nope, don't own a thing. If did, I wouldn't be writing this   
stuff.  
  
Warnings: This story could be dark; it just depends on the viewer...and   
on the mood I'm in when I'm writing.  
  
Special thanks goes to Domsablos for being my pre-reader and otherwise nice chap.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
A Ranma alternative multi-crossover universe   
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
Sorcerer's Rage - The Darkness Returns  
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
Prologue  
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
It was a warm and humid day when Genma first decided that it would be   
good for him and his son, Ranma to visit the training grounds in China, he   
had read about this place in a small brochure that he had bought from a   
sleazy merchant near Shanghai, it was written completely in Chinese, a   
language that his father couldn't understand even if his life depended on   
it.  
  
"We there yet, pop?" Ranma asked his father, a slightly annoyed frown on   
his face as he glared at the older man in mild irritation.  
  
His father was slightly taller than him, but also overweight compared to   
his son. He wore an old worn martial arts gi that had probably once been   
white and a had a bandana wrapped around his head in an attempt to   
cover his baldness. He also had a pair of cheap eyeglasses attached to his   
head with some sort of thin wire instead of the usual hooks.  
  
"Soon Ranma, very soon. We are not too far away now," the man   
responded without looking at his son.  
  
"That's what you said fifteen minutes ago," The boy snorted and turned   
away from him, tired of looking at him for the whole trip, going back to   
inspecting the surrounding wilderness to pass the time.  
  
The man frowned slightly at his son's behaviour but said nothing as he   
continued to lead them down the road that was supposed to bring them   
to the famous valley of Jusenkyo. He had heard that it was a superb   
training ground but also extremely dangerous, he was sure of this   
because of several ominous looking markings on the brochure, but since   
he couldn't translate them he dropped the matter as irrelevant and   
unimportant. A decision that was to be his downfall...  
  
...but then again, Genma Saotome had never been famous for his   
intellect, or of the amount of common sense that his peanut size brain   
could hold.  
  
It had taken almost a full week to reach where they were now, which in   
Ranma's opinion was right in the middle of nowhere. He didn't like the   
wilderness in China as there was too much moisture in the air and too   
many wild animals running around for his comfort. He also prayed that   
they wouldn't bump into any of the local tigers while they were training...  
  
The area they were in at the moment belonged to the Quangjin province,   
somewhere near the Bayankalan mountain range if the scenery far ahead   
was anything to judge from.  
  
This was supposed to be the last stop on their long training trip they had   
started over ten years ago when Ranma had been no more than five   
years old.  
  
He had no recollection of his childhood, his earliest memories being of the   
time he had spent with his precious friend U-chan. It still troubled him to   
remember the way they had parted, seeing his friend chase after the cart   
his father had gotten as a farewell gift from the Kuonji patriarch. Or that   
was the story that Genma had told to him anyway.  
  
But before Ranma could dwell any more on the past, Genma stopped   
abruptly and pointed his finger at a mist filled valley far in the distance.  
  
"There my boy, is the place I've been telling you about," the man told his   
son proudly, almost weeping in happiness. After this last training stop   
they would go back to Japan and see his old friend, and meet his family.   
"Come, let's go see what the valley holds."  
  
The boy could only sigh as he followed his father, but somehow couldn't   
help himself from feeling relieved. Ranma had grown a bit tired with his   
current situation and was hopping that perhaps after this he could finally   
get rid himself of his father and start living for himself.  
  
Too bad fate and luck don't always go hand in hand when it comes to   
wishes like that, especially in Ranma's case...  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++++  
Two hours later...  
+++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
"Huh? This is it?" Ranma asked his father, obviously disappointed with   
what he was seeing. "This is the famous training ground you told me   
about?" he said, "What a waste of time."  
  
"Silence boy," his father bellowed, giving his son a good slap on the back   
of the head. "Haven't I always told you not to judge a technique by its   
looks?!"  
  
"Uh, I think that's supposed to be 'books by their covers', pop," said   
Ranma attempting to correct him, but giving up when he realized that his   
father was ignoring him again.  
  
"This is Jusenkyo boy, according to the brochure it is one of the best   
places in the world to train, due to the great danger the area holds." said   
Genma while pointing his finger towards the pools that the mist filled   
valley was filled with, they seemed to be arranged one next to the other,   
each having at least one bamboo stick, sprouting from them, the number   
depending on the size of the pool.  
  
Ranma just rolled his eyes and dropped his backpack on the ground in   
front of one of the many pools. "I gotta bad feeling about this place," he   
thought with a slight frown on his face, "...am I imagining it, or did the air   
around here just get thicker?"  
  
Not noticing his son's worried look Genma glanced around quickly and   
dropped his own back beside his son's. "Not too shabby, I thought there   
would be more to this place though," he said with a thoughtful look on his   
face, his eyes narrowed. "Maybe if we would go deeper we might uncover   
something..."  
  
Then a new presence made its existence known to the pair.  
  
"Ah! greetings honourable customers!" said a fat looking Chinese man   
who was wearing an old style dark green Mao era uniform 'of the people'.   
He looked to be quite formal but showed some obvious hesitation, it was   
unlikely he was used to having many guests inside the valley.  
  
"Who're you?" Ranma asked with slightly puzzled expression on his face.   
Genma just ignored the man and eyed at the large pool in front of him, or   
rather the ten foot high bamboo pole that sprouted from its surface.  
  
"Me?" the Chinese man asked while pointing at himself, "I'm guide, my   
work is to keep Jusenkyo clean and warn customers of danger this valley   
holds."  
  
"Danger? What danger?" the boy muttered dumbly, but was then snapped   
out of it when he felt his father patting him on his shoulder. "Huh?"  
  
"Come on son, let's go!" the man prompted as he jumped onto one of the   
poles with a surprisingly steady landing for a man of his size. The guide   
could only wonder how the bamboo pole managed to hold the visitor's   
weight.  
  
"Feh...you think you can beat me here, old man?" Ranma snorted through   
his nostrils and joined his father, quickly forgetting all about the Jusenkyo   
guide who was now looking at the two Saotomes in clear shock.  
  
"Aaa! What you doing?!" The guide gasped loudly while rushing to the   
pool's edge. "This area very dangerous, very bad if you fall!!"  
  
Unfortunately, both father and son ignored the guide as they eyed one   
another. "I won't go easy on you boy," Genma declared while taking up a   
crane pose that was quickly mimicked by his son.  
  
"Like you ever have," the boy snorted and leapt into action when he saw   
his father doing the same, both of them collided in mid air and traded   
some fast paced blows that were easily blocked by both sides. Being   
equally unsuccessful in causing their opponent to fall, they landed back on   
their own poles and jumped back for another try, this time trading more   
powerful strikes where one would occasionally break through.  
  
However, this still failed to make any great difference.  
  
"Humph...it seems the old man actually has been holding back on me   
lately," Ranma thought as he faced off against his father with a smirk on   
his face, one that was almost matched by his father's stern seriousness.   
"Hyyaaa!!" The two combatants met in midair again, trading kicks and   
punches faster than any normal person could see, and for a short instant   
it seemed that they would both fall into the same pool. But that was until   
Ranma made a decisive move that changed this.  
  
"Hah! Take that!" cried the boy with the ponytail as he kicked his father   
into the gut, using him as a springboard to throw himself into the air to   
land back on one of the poles. "Good riddance!" he laughed as he   
watched his father disappear into the pool that had been below them for   
the whole match.  
  
The Jusenkyo guide had jumped clear from the pool's edge when the   
large Japanese man fell into it, not wishing to be cursed by the pool's   
magic. "Aiya! Now look what you do!" he shouted worriedly while rubbing   
his temples with the palms his hands. "Honorable customer fall into spring   
of drowned panda! A tragic story, very tragic about a panda that drown in   
pool over two thousand years ago!"  
  
"Huh?" was all that Ranma managed to get out from his mouth at this   
point. And before he could snap out of it, something big and dark   
appeared right above the spot on the pool's surface where his father had   
landed earlier, something that kicked out of the water with surprising   
ease considering its size.  
  
It was a panda. A bloody huge panda with black and white fur. The sight   
alone was almost enough knock the boy from his perch. "...pop?" Was the   
only thing Ranma could say as he stared at the large animal, his finger   
pointing straight at it with shocked expression on his face.  
  
"Grof!" the animal growled and made an attempt to sweep the boy off   
with one of its massive paws, a strike that Ranma managed to dodge   
easily, but not without putting himself off balance.  
  
Making a neat back flip onto another pole allowed the boy to make some   
space between himself and his transformed father, who obviously was still   
unaware of his current form and situation. "Whoa! Cut it out!" Ranma   
cried angrily as he dodged another wild lunge made by his father. And in   
doing so failed to notice that the pole he was standing on was old and   
ready to break.  
  
"Crack!"  
  
"Whoaaaaaaa*!" There was nothing Ranma could do to save himself from   
his imminent bath, one that he had prayed not to receive after seeing   
what had happened to his father. All that he could do now, was to watch   
as the pool's surface came towards him in slow motion. He held his breath   
and waited for the impact.  
  
The panda, on top of the pole, was looking down at where the boy had   
disappeared rather smugly, or as smugly as the facial muscles of its new   
form allowed, but then it paused as it seemed to notice something. It   
looked down at its paws and seemed to realize that the difference   
between them and the human hands it had previously possessed. "What   
the...?" was all that Genma could think, when he realized what had   
happened to him, and seconds later lead him to realize that his son had   
now shared the same fate. "No, Ranma! My retirement!!" he thought   
frantically as he leapt down to the edge of the pool into which he had   
seen his son fall.  
  
Meanwhile the guide had rushed to the panda's side with perplexed look   
on his face and was now paging through his guidebook, trying to find the   
spot where this particular pool was mentioned, only to come up with a   
blank description. "What is this? This pool have curse, but why it not   
marked in book?" the guide muttered while scratching his head beneath   
the green cap he was wearing.  
  
But before anything else could be said or done, an unfamiliar body burst   
from the surface of the pool with tremendous force that carried him all   
the way into the air and away from the pool. Right after he landed on the   
dry ground, the person collapsed and began to breathe heavily, several   
fits of violent coughs racking his body.  
  
With closer inspection, both the guide and Genma quickly realized that   
the figure was Ranma, but slightly different. There was also something   
strange happening to him with the way he kept trembling, something that   
would change his life forever...  
  
Ranma was having a stroke, or what could have been described as the   
equivalent of a stroke. His muscles were violently spasming and his chest   
felt as if it was about to explode due to the pressure he had felt building   
inside his chest after his fall into the damned pool.  
  
Then a strange sensation flooded his senses right after he somehow   
managed to stagger upright. It was as if electricity had suddenly coursed   
through his body, charging him with some kind of energy, which while   
being un-nerving, was surprisingly painless.  
  
Unseen by Ranma, his father and the Jusenkyo guide were now staring at   
him in shock and not a little fear. Neither did he see the way his hair   
began to billow upward, due to the sudden upward air currents that were   
strangely concentrated around him.  
  
Then, as if called from the heavens, a black lightning bolt struck the boy   
dead on, blowing both Genma and the guide off their feet. But it didn't   
seem to have any effect on Ranma at all. He just stood there with is   
clothes and hair whipping around him in the air currents that were   
becoming more and more powerful with each passing moment.  
  
Suddenly the wind stoped, and Ranma screamed, a dark read aura   
beginning to form around his body, suddenly his head shot back and his   
eyes snapped wide open, and rolled back inside is head leaving him   
staring sightlessly towards the sky.  
  
His hair caught fire and burned with unnatural flames that turned a deep   
red, while his skin became pale as the snow and his eyes crimson as   
freshly spilled blood.  
  
Then everything suddenly went white, as the fiery aura suddenly seemed   
to explode outwards filling the entire valley with its light, the shockwave   
causing the only other people in the valley beside Ranma, to grab on   
whatever they could to keep themselves from being flung into the pools.  
  
Only after the shockwave died down and the light began to dim, did   
Genma dare to open his eyes and take look what was left of his precious   
son. He was worried that his ticket for easy retirement had been just   
taken away from him permanently, but was relieved when he saw the   
familiar form of his son rise from the ground. He didn't notice the changes   
in Ranma's appearance until he walked right up to the boy. "..." Ranma   
stood silently as he examined the loose bang of hair that was hanging   
from his forehead. He was slightly shocked by its new colour, but gasped   
for air when he noticed the paleness of his skin. He turned to face his   
father with confusion and fear evident on his face.  
  
"What the hell is this?" the boy shouted while bringing up his arms for his   
father to see, "What happened, pop?! Just what the hell have you done to   
me this time?!!"  
  
Genma tried to say something to clear himself of any guilt, by saying   
something along the lines of "This wasn't my fault," but all that he got   
from his mouth were incomprehensible growls that served about the same   
purpose though, as Ranma obviously wasn't in the mood for excuses.  
  
The Jusenkyo guide was also at loss. He had never seen effects like the   
ones he had just witnessed and could only wonder at what else there was   
different about the boy now. "This be strange...you is feeling all right?" he   
asked hesitantly while still keeping good distance between himself and the   
red haired youth.  
  
The boy's head snapped around to glare at the guide, his eyes flashing   
with purple light, a wave of near invisible power, burst forth from his   
body, without him even realizing it at first.  
  
The guide had no the time to react as the shockwave, visible only by the   
distortions it made in the air, hit him dead on mercilessly flinging him   
across several pools, until he hit the ground rather roughly. Skidding to a   
halt mere inches away from the pool of drowned squall.  
  
He wasn't sure what it was that the boy had hit him with, but the way it   
had shredded and scorched his clothes, he came quickly to the conclusion   
that perhaps getting some hot water for the young customer would   
perhaps be safest for everyone involved.  
  
Genma just stared at his son and then over to where the guide was   
currently running towards his hut like all the demons in hell were after   
him. "How did the boy do that?" the transformed Saotome patriarch   
wondered, too occupied by his own thoughts to realize that his son had   
now turned his attention back to him.  
  
"Old man! You're going down for this shit!" the boy bellowed. The panda   
reacted too late as a monstrously powerful punch hit him square in the   
gut and sent him crashing to the ground about two dozen feet away.  
  
Ranma blinked at this, his eyes turning to look at the fist he had used to   
punch his father. A cold smirk formed on his lips as he belatedly realized   
that he must have gained some sort of new power from the pool that he   
had fallen into, and while it wouldn't normally have taken some sort of   
supernatural power to aid him in his quest to beat some sense into his old   
man's empty skull, Ranma didn't mind it so much since it was being used   
on the person responsible for his transformation.  
  
"Time for some payback..." the boy said quietly as he approached his   
father, his knuckles cracking ominously as he walked. His eyes once   
again, flashing with the strange purple light that was giving the boy a   
somewhat eerie look when viewed from Genma's point of view.  
  
Genma hadn't even had the time to recover from the gut wrenching   
punch he had received, when he was already receiving another blow. This   
one was done with a kick though.  
  
A satisfied smirk fell on Ranma's face as he watched his father sail into   
one of the trees that occupied the valley bottom, and how it snapped in   
half with the force of the impact, the top part of the tree landing on top of   
Genma's head and promptly knocking him unconscious.  
  
"Pathetic..." the boy sighed, suddenly feeling extremely tired. He had   
calmed down visibly after his brain had registered the fact that the reason   
for his anger was no longer accessible for the time being. No use beating   
someone who couldn't feel anything.  
  
After regaining his senses somewhat he noticed that the guide was   
running back towards them with a steaming kettle swinging from his   
hands and a worried frown on his face. "Huh? What's with the kettle?" he   
muttered and paused when he realised the guide had rushed over to   
kneel beside his father and was about to pour the water over the   
unconscious animal's head.  
  
"Hey, what do you think you're...?" the boy started, but then stopped   
when he saw the massive form of his father's new form suddenly   
shrinking and changing shape. "Pop...?" he gasped after he realized that   
his father had transformed back into his normal form. The Saotome   
patriarch was still unconscious, though.  
  
The guide turned to look at Ranma and nodded at him after seeing the   
questioning look in his eyes. "Yes, hot water reverse curse," he explained   
while standing up with the half empty kettle in his hands. But before he   
could even think of getting any further in his speech, he realized that the   
kettle was no longer in his hands and that the young customer was   
currently emptying the contents of the kettle over himself.  
  
The only thing that surprised the guide more than the boy's speed was   
the fact that there was no change in the younger customer's appearance.   
"What? Hot water...no work?" he gasped while tentatively approaching   
the boy.  
  
"Huh? I didn't change back?" Ranma muttered confusedly, his eyes   
staring at the now wet and still very much red bangs of hair that were   
hanging in front of his eyes, with a slight feeling of panic growing in his   
mind he spoke. "Why? Why didn't it work?!" he suddenly roared as he   
threw the kettle at the guide who nearly caught the thing right in the   
middle of his face.  
  
"I know not!" The guide yelped fearfully at the sudden outburst. "I only   
work here. There be no records about pool where honourable customer   
fall!" he explained while shielding his face, crossing his arms in front of   
his face.  
  
"Why you..." the boy growled lifting his hand into the air, a strange   
sphere of black electricity forming in his palm, but he froze when he   
realized what was happening. "What the...?" he gasped while wrenching   
the hand down as if it had been burned, sending the sphere shooting   
down into the nearby forest narrowly missing the guide.  
  
Both the guide and Ranma were staring at the following effect with their   
eyes wide. Right after the sphere had disappeared into the grove, a bright   
flash emitted from amongst the vegetation, and several trees were blown   
spectacularly into toothpick sized splinters, the explosion even managed   
to throw some of the remaining tree's flying all the way into the clearing   
with most of the trunks shredded and/or burned to a cinder.  
  
Ranma could only gape at his own handiwork. "What...how?" he   
stammered while turning towards the guide with shocked expression on   
his face, one that was mirrored exactly by the Chinese man.  
  
"This one not know..." the guide answered slowly. "Never seen anything   
like this one," he continued with slightly fearful look on his face, one that   
was quickly followed by his body as he slowly began to edge away from   
the obviously unstable and probably dangerous boy.  
  
Ranma noticed this, but couldn't bring himself to blame the man. "Just   
what was that thing? How did I do it? Can I even control it?!" he thought   
desperately while dropping to his knees, not noticing the dark aura that   
was starting to form around his body. Never in his life had there been a   
technique that he hadn't been able to control, the only exception being   
the Neko-Ken, and he really didn't need another one to add to the list.  
  
Seeing the dark red aura forming around the boy's frame, the guide   
decided that he wouldn't stick his neck into this mess any further and   
quickly scurried away lest he get himself blasted with some strange   
energy blast, like the one that the boy had accidentally thrown only   
moments before. He wasn't sure whether the boy had done it intentionally   
or not, or if he would use them on him if he stayed, but since he didn't   
wish to find out, he made a decision to run as fast, and as far away as he   
could.  
  
That proved most likely to have been a wise choice, as when he looked   
behind him, he noticed the boy's aura turning from dark red to pitch   
black. A seemingly impenetrable mist of darkness that did not allow any   
light to pass through it.  
  
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGHHH!!!" the boy roared to the heavens, pouring   
out all his anger, fear and desperation, everything that had been locked   
away inside his soul, suppressed for most of his life. Up until this day he   
had never really been able to release any of it thanks to the principles his   
father had pounded into him, ones that taught him not to release his   
emotions in any situation. But like everybody else in the world, even   
Ranma had his limits.  
  
Inside his head, Ranma found himself in a battle of wills against   
something he could not understand, something that had not been there   
before and was now trying force him to release all the suffering he had   
gone through by using violence. It was something dark, something evil,   
and something that was trying to reach out into his mind and bend him to   
its will, if he ever had one to begin with. "...what...is...this?!" The boy   
thought in desperation, clutching his head, his body convulsing   
involuntarily as he tried to resist whatever it was that was attacking his   
mind.  
  
This continued for some time, the black aura around his body never   
diminishing even for an instant, not until he managed to win the battle   
against whatever it was that he had been fighting against when it   
vanished completely  
  
Or at least he thought he had won.  
  
Collapsing in a pathetic heap, Ranma just kept gasping for air and   
clutching at his head, wishing that this was all just a bad dream and that   
he was going to wake up soon. Unfortunately it was not to be.  
  
"...what...was that?" he wondered as he slowly let his head go. His mind   
felt numb and exhausted, just like rest of his body. His mind was filled   
with worry of what had happened to him, but he also knew that just lying   
around on the ground, thinking about it wouldn't bring him any answers.  
  
After his first try at getting up he realized that he was too tired to even   
lift his arms and promptly decided to just to stay down and rest, praying   
that whatever it was that had happened to him just moments ago,   
wouldn't repeat itself. Or not until he was ready at least.  
  
He had a strange scent of a memory, something about having a presence   
inside his mind when the 'attack' occurred, but couldn't confirm it. This   
did nothing to ease his worry especialy since he had no way of   
guaranteeing that it would not happen again. But despite all that, he felt   
strangely calm about it all. As if there was nothing to be worried about   
anymore.  
  
Soon the exhaustion of both his mind and body finally caught up with   
him, causing him to slip into unconsciousness...  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++++  
Sometime later...  
+++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
The first thing Ranma felt when he woke, was a dull pain that seemed to   
be spread all around his body, soon after he realised that someone was   
sitting next to him.  
  
"Ranma? You awake?" asked the voice that he recognized only too well. It   
was his father.  
  
"Yeah...had some weird dream though," the boy replied while rolling onto   
his side. He felt strangely refreshed despite the slowly fading pain that he   
could still feel.  
  
Genma raised an eyebrow at this but did not turn away from the crude   
campfire he had built. "Dream?" he repeated giving his son a questioning   
glance.  
  
"Yeah," he nodded while rubbing his eyes, it was already dark and he lay   
looking up at the near pitch-black and star filled sky above. "I had a   
dream where we went to this weird valley with these pools. You dropped   
into one of them and turned into a panda." The boy almost chuckled.  
  
"It wasn't a dream, boy," his father cut in flatly, not looking happy at all.  
  
"Huh?" Ranma muttered dumbly while turning to look at his father again.   
"What d-do you mean, it w-wasn't a dream?!" He gasped and almost   
jumped to his feet, but was quickly stopped when his back complained.  
  
The Saotome patriarch turned to look at his son, just in time to see the   
grimace on the boy's face, he sighed. "I met with the guide after I woke   
up, that was several hours ago. He told me about this area and gave   
some explanations regarding the curses," he said, waving his hand,   
gesturing at their surroundings.  
  
That was when Ranma realized that they were still in the valley, a good   
distance from the pools though; he could even see the guide's hut from   
where they were. "Not a dream..." he muttered as he slowly digested   
that, what had occurred, hadn't been just a figment of his imagination.  
  
"Curses? What curses?" the boy suddenly snapped back to reality as he   
tried to reach out towards his father, his mind praying that this was just   
one big sick joke and would go away soon.  
  
"The pools," Genma started while pointing towards the centre of the mist   
filled valley, "They each hold a different curse according to the guide.   
Whoever falls into them turns into whatever had last drowned there. The   
pool where I fell was the pool of drowned panda..."  
  
"..." At fist Ranma just stared at his father. "Then...where did I fall? Why   
didn't the cure the guide used on you work on me?!" he snapped almost   
angrily. He was still pretty upset at what his father had done to him and   
wasn't going to forgive him anytime soon. For some reason he had this   
strange urge to roast his old man alive, but he shook it off quickly and   
waited for a reply, as the dead didn't tell any tales.  
  
"It wasn't a cure, boy. It is only a temporary fix," his father replied calmly   
while poking at the fire with a small stick. "Hot water returns me back to   
my human form, but then cold water activates the curse again..." the   
man was silent for a moment as he peered into the fire.  
  
"I don't know why the hot water doesn't work on you, boy, and neither   
does the guide. But I guess your problem isn't so bad," Genma continued   
as he turned to look his son, or rather the boy's hair. "All you've gotten is   
a red hair and a pale skin."  
  
This made the boy to blink and steer his gaze to his bangs of hair. "Huh?"   
he muttered dumbly as he grabbed some of it for closer inspection. The   
look on his face turned a bit sour as he realized that it was probably his   
natural colour now. "Man, this sucks. I can't walk around with this kind of   
hair, it's embarrassing," he complained and stuck it out to show it his   
father, as if to emphasize his words.  
  
Genma just snorted and shrugged his shoulders at this before he   
continued, "But aside that, I'd like to know one thing..."  
  
"What?"  
  
"How did you do that attack you used on that guide? When did you learn   
it?!" the man asked him with suspicious frown on his face. He was pretty   
sure his son hadn't been going through his backpack and found any of the   
old scrolls that he had stolen...eh, borrowed from those monasteries they   
had visited during their ten year long journey. So Ranma couldn't have   
learned it from those, and besides, he didn't recall any technique like the   
one that his son had used earlier today being among them either.  
  
"Huh? What attack?" Ranma muttered confusedly, but then suddenly   
became rigid as the memories began to flash through his mind. "...I...I   
don't...know. I can't remember," he admitted with troubled look on his   
face, "I don't know how...they just came out."  
  
"Hmm..." the older Saotome frowned at this. It was obvious that he   
wasn't quite buying the explanation, but did not press on it however.  
  
"The boy is either hiding information from me, or that strange technique   
he used on the guide is directly connected to his curse and he just isn't   
just aware of it yet," Genma mentally concluded as he turned back to the   
fire. He might have been a greedy bastard and an idiot to boot, but he did   
have a surprisingly strong intuition towards things like this.  
  
"Well, rest now. I don't know what happened while I was unconscious, but   
I can see that you're still tired from your ordeal," the man continued while   
watching the campfire.  
  
Ranma just nodded and closed his eyes. His mind, however, was still   
quite active. He couldn't just let the matter drop and began to feverishly   
ponder what had happened today.  
  
All that he could really remember doing was attacking the guide with a   
blurred recollection of anger and frustration. But as he tried harder, he   
did recall that he had felt some extreme emotions during the second   
attack, the one that his father was either not aware of, or just hadn't   
bothered to mention yet.  
  
The first time had been when he had been both mad and desperate,   
fearing what he might have become thanks to his father. That had been   
the time the strange wave had thrown the Jusenkyo guide across the   
springs. The second one had occurred when he had felt just anger, or   
perhaps it was rage, filling his mind. He had felt an urge to kill the man,   
something that the boy himself found quite disturbing since he had   
always lived by the belief that killing was the last option when defending   
those who could not defend themselves.  
  
A small shiver ran up Ranma's spine when he realized that he might have   
come close to murdering both his father and the guide, and would   
probably have done so if he hadn't noticed the strange sphere of energy   
that had emerged from his hand before he had thrown it off into the   
forest. And now when he thought some more about it, he had a quite   
clear memory of what he had done when it had appeared.  
  
This made the boy frown slightly. "Hmm...I wonder if..." he muttered   
silently to himself while raising his hand above his chest. He concentrated   
on the feelings he had felt when he had created the sphere last time, a   
few beads of sweat fell down his forehead as he tried to summon the   
energy again. But nothing happened.  
  
"Damn," he cursed lightly, and was about to drop his hand back down in   
defeat when he noticed it. A small sphere of black electricity coursed   
along the surface of his palm but quickly disappeared before he could   
concentrate on it again.  
  
"That was weird," he commented to himself and stopped when he realized   
that his father was still awake. And since he did not want his old man to   
find out what he was doing, he quickly rolled onto his side, vowing to find   
out how he had managed that thing. It was obvious that his father was   
interested in the attacks that he had created, so if nothing else, Ranma   
wanted to at least learn them so that he could show off to his old man.  
  
It didn't however take away the worry that he had for his current form.   
While he still might have looked like a normal person, despite his new   
rather colourful hair he had, he felt that something was wrong with him.   
And that the attack he had before when he had blacked out was giving   
him the creeps.  
  
Ranma wasn't sure, but for some reason he felt that whatever it had been   
that had attempted to invade his mind, had not gone away. Heck, he   
wasn't even sure if he had won yet.  
  
All he could do was hope that he had.   
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++++  
End of prologue...  
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
Next chapter: Awakening  
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
So, how did ya like it? Want some more? Then put some reviews on the   
list people, otherwise I might just let this one wither away and die. And   
yes, I'm still working on the When Fates Collide, I'm just trying to finish   
up with the ending part of the third chapter, and the reason why it has   
taken so long is because I once lost the damn file when I was near   
completing it and then because I've (still) been having some rough time   
back at home...  
  
-Goenitz  
  
Updated: -2002-22-04-  
  
Ok, got a of pre-reader now, told me that help he could. So I took   
the offer, now helping me he is, and doing great job so far. I only   
wish I could do as great job as he is...  
  
So in other words, I would like to give my gratitude to Domsablos for his   
patience and effort in guiding me to the right path, which I hopefully will   
pick up on my own so that he doesn't need to be pulling his hair out in   
frustration all the time.   
  
Oh, and give a big cheer for Dom for pointing out the glitches I had in my   
grammar! Without him I would probably still be going on with my faulty   
writing style, so show him a bit of appreciation, mmmmkay?  
  
-Goenitz 


	2. Chapter 1 - The Awakening

Author: Leopold Goenitz Email: Leopold_Goenitz@hotmail.com 

Disclaimer: Nope, don't own a thing. If did, I wouldn't be writing this stuff. 

Warnings: This story could be dark; it just depends on the viewer…and on   
the mood I'm in when I'm writing. 

And special thanks goes to Richard Sienkewicz for being my pre-reader for   
this chapter. 

Please inform me of any grammar and typing errors via email. Write only   
your opinions and other messages to me on this fic at the review page.   
Thank you. 

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 

Ranma found himself standing in the middle of a large feudal age citadel   
there were fires everywhere; the City was slowly burning to the ground   
around him.   
  
As he stood there amongst the carnage he could almost feel the flames   
licking at his skin, desperately trying to close his eyes so he could block   
the images he was seeing. 

Hundreds upon hundreds of mangled corpses, people and monsters alike,   
some were huge creatures with ivory skins that he somehow recognised   
as trolls, all scattered around him in messy piles, their blood pooling on   
the ground. 

He couldn't close his eyes, no matter how much he fought to do so. He   
quickly realized that he had no control over his own actions as his right   
hand raised itself before his field of vision, bloodied but undamaged. 

"Useless, so utterly useless…" he spoke, with a voice and words that was   
not his own. "To think that this is all that you were capable of, and while I   
must say I am a bit disappointed, this was exactly what I had been   
expecting from mere mortals." 

Then he turned around facing the looming darkness ahead, the burning   
citadel casting his shadow across a small dirt road leading out from the   
palace grounds with a long trail of corpses paving the path before him. 

And that was when he woke up. 

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 

"Waaaaaah!!" Ranma jumped to his feet and clutched his chest, quickly   
taking in his surroundings. There were trees, lots of them, and his father   
was sleeping soundly right next to the extinguished campfire. No burning   
citadels, no corpses, and it was still night. 

Still clutching his chest the boy slowly settled back into the sleeping bag   
that he had just jumped out of, silently thanking the gods that the vision   
had been just a dream. Looked up into the dark night sky he noticed the   
large pale moon shining down on him from the heavens. He wasn't sure   
why, but for some reason it gave him a strange sense of foreboding that   
made him shiver. 

But since there was very little he could do about it, Ranma just shrugged   
and tried to relax he would need some more sleep before he had to get up   
in the morning. He could only hope that he wasn't going to see a replay of   
the same nightmare. 

As he lay there wide-awake he realised that it was going to be a long   
night… 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++   
++++ A Ranma alternative multi-crossover universe ++++   
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++   
+++ Sorcerer's Rage – The Darkness Returns +++   
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++   
++ Chapter 1 – The Awakening ++   
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++   


It had been early in the morning when Ranma and his father had left the   
Jusenkyo valley lead by the local guide, he had promised to take them to   
a village that might have a cure or at least more knowledge of the curses.   
And now after almost three hours of walking they finally came to the   
village gates, if you could call them that. 

From Ranma's point of view it looked like a crude fort, surrounded by high   
wooden walls with the majority of farming fields placed within the   
compound. There were several guards, armed with spears, swords, and   
similar old-fashioned weapons, but it wasn't those that caught the two   
Saotome's attentions. No, it was the fact that all the guards were women. 

"Oi, what's the deal here," Ranma suddenly quipped to the guide while   
grabbing the large man by his shoulder stopping him from moving. "Why   
are all these guards women?" he asked while giving a sweeping gaze at   
some of them before adding, "And why are they staring at us?" 

"This an amazon village honourable customer," the guide explained   
proudly, "It is the women's duty to protect village and their families, that   
is why there be so many." 

"Yeah, but I still don't get it why are they staring at me?" 

The guide blinked at this and took a quick look at some of the younger   
amazons, and realized that they were indeed staring at the younger   
customer rather intently. "Maybe curious, not many visitors come here   
often," he offered obliviously. 

Ranma wasn't so sure about that but let it be and soon followed the guide   
along with his transformed father, who despite his appearances wasn't   
nearly as much attention as he was, if at all. "Something's funny with this   
place and I don't like it…" 

Genma ignored his son's random mumblings and just gazed lazily ahead   
while following the guide, not particularly confident that they would find a   
cure for their curses here. Luck had rarely been part of his life and he   
didn't have much confidence that it would make its appearance so easily.   
And thus did not share the guides enthusiasm as neither did his son, who   
was probably the least troubled by his curse, at least from his point of   
view. Ranma was still a human while he had to become a panda whenever   
it rained. 

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 

As the guide and his two wards neared the centre of the village, each of   
them took notice of the large amount of people gathered there, around a   
large wooden stage built from three large tree trunks that must have   
require most of the villagers to build. 

Ranma wasn't as much interested in the people as he was on the fight   
that was taking place on the log. Two women were locked in a vicious   
looking duel with the larger one trying to bash the smaller using a wicked   
looking mace that was attached to the end of a pole she was holding into.   
The smaller and much prettier representative, Ranma noted to himself,   
was wielding two round smooth surfaced maces and was doing pretty   
good job in either blocking or evading her opponent's strikes. "That girl's   
got some serious strength there…" he noted. 

The guide nodded and smiled, it was extremely rare for an outsider to see   
events like this. "Yes, we very lucky, they hold tournament today. Winning   
fight bring big honor here, very important to amazons." 

Genma wasn't bothering himself with such trivial details and instead was   
right now wandering towards a large dining table with small wooden sign   
standing in front of it, something he coulden't read written on it in   
Chinese. "Ah, food just for me," the animal thought with almost giddy glee   
before sitting itself at the table and starting to devour its content with   
both paws throwing the food into his gaping maw. 

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 

Meanwhile as Ranma and the Jusenkyo guide stood watching the duel, not   
noticing the absence of the third member of their party, someone among   
the masses that were watching the fight had felt their presence since the   
moment they stepped on the village grounds. 

This individual happened to be a small shrunken woman, barely three feet   
tall and carrying a staff that towered over her by an extra two feet. Her   
most notable feature was her hair, which was long and silvery grey,   
reaching all the way to the ground. At the moment she was staring out of   
the surrounding crowd and at the two men who were watching at the   
proceedings. 

She recognized the guide, one could say he was a small time celebrity   
that everyone knew but everyone ignored when he made an appearance.   
The boy, however, she did not recognize. 

He was obviously Japanese, judging from appearance. His steady stance   
hinted of martial arts upbringing and didn't seem to be all that bad looking   
either. For a moment she almost considered trying pair him up with her   
great granddaughter who had been as yet unable to find a worthy   
husband for herself, but then dropped that line of thought when she   
detected something odd about the boy. 

It was his aura, still dormant and thus mostly hidden, but undeniably   
strong. But what really caught her attention was that it was evil, dark and   
foreboding to someone who as emphatically sensitive as she was. 

A frown appeared on the old woman's face as she considered the possible   
reasons for his presence. She kept herself from calling the guards to   
throw the boy out, as he did not seem to be all that interested in anything   
other than the fight where her great granddaughter Shampoo was fighting   
for the village championship. 

She couldn't leave the matter unattended however, and soon began to   
make her way towards the two men, taking the long route around the   
crowds where she could approach them from behind. 

But as she came closer to them, the boy whom she had been so curious   
about stopped talking to the guide and turned to look at her before she   
even managed to come closer than ten feet. 

"Most interesting…" she thought to herself and decided to drop the façade   
by introducing herself. 

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 

The sudden sensation of a powerful presence brought an abrupt halt to   
the small talk he had been sharing with the Jusenkyo guide, but all that   
he could see when he turned around, was a wrinkled old crone with a   
equally old looking gnarled staff in her hands. 

For a short instant he was going to just ignore her, but something   
powerful urged him to keep eye contact with her, even though he couldn't   
help but wonder why he was feeling that all was not as it seemed with the   
harmless looking woman. But then again, one of his father's oldest   
teachings was not to judge a person by their looks alone. 

The old woman stepped closer to him, thus gaining the Jusenkyo guide's   
attention also, and then she spoke. "Welcome stranger, I am called   
Cologne, the matriarch of this village and would like to inquire what has   
brought you to us." She spoke in fluent Japanese, which was quite a   
surprise for Ranma who certainly hadn't been expecting it. 

"Uh, well…we kinda came here to ask you about a cure for…" Ranma   
began to explain, but was interrupted by the abrupt feminine scream of   
anger and the loud sound of something breaking under extreme psychical   
force. 

"What the…?!" was all that the boy managed before he saw the familiar   
form of his father's transformed body, sitting near the now broken table   
with various feast items laying scattered about thanks to the large mace   
that was buried among the wreckage that had once been a large table. At   
the other end of the mace was the new champion of the village, namely   
the pretty looking girl that Ranma had been looking at during the fight. It   
was quite obvious from her facial expression that she wasn't pleased to   
see that over half of her winning prize had been eaten by a giant panda. 

With some effort Ranma restrained himself from slapping his hand across   
his face to hide the shame he felt towards his father, he couldn't believe   
the fat fool had done it again. "Damn it old man, do you do this on   
purpose, or are you just so bloody stupid that you don't even realize what   
you're doing sometimes?" 

Cologne didn't need to hear his thoughts to realize the connection   
between the panda and the boy. "Is that your pet?" she asked evenly, not   
sounding too happy but neither was she as upset as she could have been.   
"If it is, I would suggest that you find a way to compensate for the prize it   
ate or my great granddaughter will make a fur coat out of him." 

"He's not my pet," Ranma spoke evenly, but his tightly clenching jaw and   
fists betrayed the barely restrained anger inside him. "Since my old man   
brought this on himself alone, I'll also let him handle it alone. I'm not   
going to let that bastard drag me into another mess just because of he   
couldn't use his brains." 

"…" For a moment Cologne just looked at the boy, not saying a word as   
she slowly digested what he had said and what it was that she was   
missing here. Then it hit her. "Jusenkyo!" the old woman gasped as she   
turned to look at the panda that was uncharacteristically moving away   
from her great granddaughter with a most human like mannerism. She   
mentally slapped herself for not having realized it when she saw the   
guide, he rarely left his post and when he did it usually meant that he was   
accompanying some unfortunate visitors of the valley he worked to   
maintain. 

"Huh? So you know about the place?" Ranma asked, suddenly more   
interested on the old woman than on his father's fate. "You wouldn't   
happen to know if there's a cure to those curses, now would you?" 

"No, I'm afraid not," the old woman sighed and motioned to one of the   
guards to come closer to her, she spoke in Chinese to the pink haired girl   
and sent her off to stop the fight that was about to break out between the   
panda and her great granddaughter. 

After that she turned back to the boy and chose to ignore the first   
impression she had gotten from him. "And don't bother going to look for it   
elsewhere either. We amazons have occupied this area for more than   
three thousands years and it has been our duty to ensure that the   
Jusenkyo valley stays secure and undisturbed. But despite our best   
efforts, fate has always managed to guide some unfortunate souls to that   
area, and so we chose to ignore it and let nature take its course. And trust   
me on this when I say that there is no cure, if there had ever been one,   
we would have already found it." 

This seemed to deflate the boy's mood considerably, but even then it   
seemed to be mild. That was also what made the old woman inquire about   
the little detail that had just now started to bother her. "You wouldn't   
happen to be cursed yourself?" she asked while eyeing at the boy   
carefully. 

"Huh?" Ranma muttered dumbly before turning back to the matriarch, he   
had been momentarily distracted by the girl the old crone had sent down   
to the area where his father was currently occupied. It seemed that the   
villagers had formed a ring around Genma and thus were preventing him   
from escaping yet. "Cursed? Uh, yeah, but mine's a bit screwy." 

She blinked at that. "How so?" 

Ranma scratched his head as he thought how to put it. "Well for starters, I   
can't change back to how I looked like before, I used to have black hair   
instead of this stupid red hair," and for emphasis pulled some of it down   
for Cologne to see. "And when I was cursed, it felt like something was   
trying to take control of me. I don't know how, but I also got this weird   
ability to throw some kind of chi attacks when I got angry at my old man,   
I almost killed him and the guide. I haven't been able to do it again since,   
though and I'm not sure if I would even dare to try in case I lose control   
again." 

"Most unusual," the old woman commented, she turned and spoke the   
guide in their native language for a moment. Ranma stood there in silence   
not understanding a word, then she spoke to Ranma again "It seems that   
you have fallen into uncursed spring without drowning in it, which alone   
should be impossible as each unlabeled spring forcefully drowns its   
victims, unless…" 

"Unless what?" 

"Unless the spring was already cursed but the present guide has been   
unaware of its creation," she finished while turning a stern look towards   
the guide, making the burly man flinch slightly, but then let it drop as she   
continued. "But it seems more likely that the guide who witnessed its birth   
just failed to name it, which brings us to the description you gave me of   
its effects." 

"What do you mean?" Ranma asked carefully, not liking the studying gaze   
he was being given. 

"I'm not quite sure myself yet," the old woman admitted. "As far as our   
knowledge tells us, only a few of the springs should affect mental or   
psychical control over their victims, but never going as far as trying to   
take control over the victims mind though." 

Ranma wasn't sure if he liked how that had sounded. "So are you telling   
me that this stupid curse of mine is trying to fight for control of my body,"   
he asked in a slightly agitated tone. 

To that Cologne could only shrug her shoulders. "I do not know, child.   
Even though I am old and resourceful; I do not hold all the knowledge   
that I would like. No matter how much I wished it weren't so." 

Then they both turned to look at Genma who was lying unconscious on   
the ground with a familiar looking mace planted on his head, he had been   
turned back into a human by the girl that Cologne had sent to inform her   
great granddaughter of the 'panda's' real form. It was quite clear which of   
two had slammed the mace over his head, as it was the same person who   
was now walking towards them. 

The purple haired girl gave Ranma a quick glance, but then turned to   
converse with her great grandmother and began to speak in Mandarin   
again. Ranma wasn't sure what was being said, but it was quite clear to   
him that the girl was slowly starting to eye at him with growing distaste. 

The conversation didn't seem to be going too well as the pair started to   
shout at each other. It didn't take genius to realize that the cause of their   
dispute was himself, making him feel more and more compelled to leave   
this place before the situation turned from bad to worse. 

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 

Cologne was having trouble with her great granddaughter. The girl was   
insisting that she be allowed to challenge the boy because he had been   
travelling with the panda-man and was thus obviously partially responsible   
for the loss of her first prize. 

"No, I forbid it Shampoo!" the matriarch of the amazon village   
admonished her great granddaughter. "You will not challenge this boy just   
because his father chose to act foolishly. It is his father that shall pay for   
the crime he has committed, not his son!" 

"Why are you defending him, great grandmother? He's just an outsider,   
related to that…that thing that ate my prize, and a man too!" the purple   
haired girl snapped back at the older woman, although controllably so.   
She wasn't foolish enough to try anything stupid in the presence of the   
matriarch, as she was perfectly aware of what the woman was capable of. 

"Silence child!" Cologne snapped furiously. "You will not challenge him,   
and that is final! I will not allow it! You know the consequences if you   
choose to ignore my direct order, so I would suggest you choose your   
actions wisely…" the old woman warned as her eyes narrowed into thin   
lines. 

Cologne knew she would be placing herself in a difficult situation by not   
allowing her great granddaughter to challenge the boy. She knew she   
would probably need to explain it before the council, but before she was   
fully aware of the nature of the boy's curse, she could not jeopardize her   
great granddaughter's future by letting the girl do something rash,   
something she might regret later on. 

The purple haired youth gave the boy one more disdainful look and turned   
around with her nose held high, she couldn't understand why her great   
grandmother was protecting that male filth but wasn't going to let it   
bother her. She'd get her hands on him after he left the village… 

All that Cologne could do was sigh and shake her head while hoping her   
great granddaughter managed to keep her hands off the boy until she   
could determine if he was safe or not. 

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 

A small relief washed over Ranma as he saw the girl turn around and walk   
away, but he couldn't help but feel that the dispute between the old   
woman and the girl was far from over. 

"What was that all about? You two didn't have a fight because of my old   
man, now did you?" the boy asked tentatively, feeling more and more   
encouraged to leave his father to fend for himself. Ranma had wanted to   
get back home without any further incidents, but with the way things   
seemed to go with his father around, he came to the decision that perhaps   
he should just dump the old glutton and find back by himself. 

"Yes and no, but that isn't important now. Come with me and I will try to   
look for any information we might have on your curse," The old woman   
sighed and motioned him to follow. "I have a feeling though, that there   
will not be anything in our records, as all those who were locked in their   
cursed forms were always in direct contact with the Musks, but there   
hasn't been anything heard from them in over a hundred years. There are   
few rare pools that have been known to affect personalities, but according   
to what you told me this is something totally new for us." 

"So…in other words I shouldn't get my hopes up, right?" Ranma asked   
with his flat tone. He didn't bother to hide his lack of enthusiasm   
anymore, something that the village matriarch could understand to some   
extent. 

"Maybe, we do not know yet. There might be something in our history   
books that I may have overlooked in the past, but as I said, I can't make   
any promises." 

Ranma just nodded and followed the old woman, ignoring the events   
among the crowd where his father was being hogtied and then carried   
towards the village prison, from where he would not be released until his   
punishment would have been decided. 

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 

In short time, Ranma found himself being escorted to one of the main   
buildings of the village, a massive stone house with three floors, which   
was rather dark and somewhat brooding in his opinion. 

Inside he was accompanied by only the matriarch, while the two female   
guards whom she had ordered to come with them stayed outside the door   
on guard for reasons he didn't wish to think right know. He wasn't sure,   
but he had the feeling that not all the villagers saw the event his father   
caused as something he had nothing to do with, since after all, the fat   
glutton was his father. So it would only be natural if he took part of the   
fault too, right? 

He prayed it wasn't so, things had been going enough wrong lately and he   
didn't want to end up fighting his way through an angry mob just because   
of his father's greed and stupidity. 

After entering what seemed to be an old and rather small library Cologne   
moved to the darkest corner of the room and motioned the boy to stay   
back. "Go and find someplace to sit, this might take a while. I doubt that   
your curse is listed here, but there is a high possibility that there might be   
records of some strange, or well known incidents in the past that have   
taken place near the Jusenkyo valley." 

Ranma just nodded but did not move from his spot as he let his gaze   
roam around the old room and its many bookshelves. There weren't any   
spider webs much to his surprise, but the ancient dust, that looked to be   
older than some of the books there, did a decent job in making this room   
look like a burial tomb on his opinion. 

After the first fifteen minutes Ranma had begun to grow bored with just   
watching the books that he couldn't read due to the foreign dialect. He   
couldn't understand what Cologne was muttering time to time as she   
paged through the large and thick leather covered books that held the   
knowledge of this village's history and of the area that surrounded it. But   
just as he was about to leave the room, something caught his eye. 

"Huh?" the boy muttered to himself as he noticed the large cabinet at the   
end of the room, its doors slightly ajar. There was something strange   
about the cabinet and he knew this to be true as the feeling grew stronger   
by each step he too towards it. 

Taking quick glance over his shoulder Ranma made sure that the old   
crone wasn't looking and then took a peek inside the cabinet. 

There were several various objects inside the cabinet, mostly boxes of   
varying sizes and some old tomes, if he was guessing right. Everything   
inside the cabinet reeked of old age, ancient beyond his years and   
possibly any living being on earth. "Wow, this is some really old stuff," he   
thought in wonder as he let his fingers trace down some of the boxes,   
drawing small lines into their dust covered sides. But then suddenly he   
stopped. There had been a small tingle passing through her fingers when   
she traced them across the old wooden box. 

Letting his curiosity take a hold of his mind, Ranma slowly opened the   
door, trying not to make too much noise while doing it. The extra light   
that now shined into the cabinet's confines allowed him to see the box   
more clearly and a hint of that which it held inside its confines. 

Peering through one of the many cracks and small holes that the box had   
he took a peek at what looked like a large glass ball of the size of a   
football, lots of various dark colours inside it. It was fascinating to him to   
see the strange figuration it had inside it, proving that it was a work of   
true art, but that was until he realized that the dark colour patterns were   
moving inside the ball. 

That was also the moment when he realized that he had been discovered. 

"Find anything interesting?" the old woman asked, standing right next to   
the boy with no more than a one foot of empty space between them. 

Jerking to the side from the surprise almost caused Ranma to stumble   
down on the floor, but managed to take control of his balance before he   
could embarrass himself any further. "Well, yeah…you could say that," he   
replied with slightly annoyed look on his face. He knew he probably   
shouldn't have gone digging through some else's things, but there was   
just something in this cabinet that had drawn him to it. 

The old woman smirked lightly and used her cane to prop at the wooden   
box he had been examining. "I see the old 'Evil Eye' caught your   
attention," she commented with a slightly more serious look falling on her   
face, "It is no real threat without its original owner, but I still wouldn't   
recommend even touching it due to its demonic origins." 

"Demonic?" 

"Yes, it belonged to a powerful sorcerer who was said to have been   
possessed a soul of a high level demon. I can't quite remember his name   
right now, but I do remember that he had claimed that it held part of his   
soul and thus could not ever be used by anybody else unless he willed it   
so." 

"What happened to him?" Ranma inquired while peering at the box again,   
"And what is this thing exactly? It looks like a glass ball but I doubt it's   
just some decoration though." 

Chuckling lightly at the description the old woman shook her head and   
then sighed heavily as she moved closer to the box, laying her right hand   
on top of its cover. "The sorcerer was slain not too far away from here by   
a group of valiant warriors, grouped together from all over the world. But   
the sorcerer didn't die, they knew that when they went against him, but   
they did have the means to seal him away though. And in that they   
succeeded, fortunately." 

The old crone turned to look at the boy beside her and narrowed her eyes   
as if trying to remember something. "This happened about three hundred   
years ago and I don't hold all the knowledge of what occurred. All I know   
that after the sorcerer was sealed, his weapon, this 'glass ball' as you put   
it, ceased all activities and became 'dead'. All attempts to discover its   
secrets were fruitless or disastrous at best, so it was soon abandoned and   
then forgotten." 

Ranma felt slightly uncomfortable as he heard this. "Um…you said that the   
ball was supposed to be dead, right? And does that mean that it shouldn't   
be moving or anything?" 

"Yes, why are you asking?" 

"Well, eh…" the boy began as he backed away from the box as it suddenly   
began to glow dimly, "…because it looks like its waking up again." He   
pointed his finger at the box, making the old matriarch follow his line of   
sight and jump away from the container as it suddenly exploded in   
splinters. Both Ranma and Cologne remained unharmed though, but that   
didn't lessen the feeling of foreboding they both had when they saw the   
glass ball, hovering in the air unharmed. 

"By the great gods!" Cologne gasped as she felt the wave of almost   
nauseating negative energies pouring out from the object. This was the   
first time she had ever seen the weapon in its activated state and could   
now understand why its owner had called it the 'Evil Eye', as in the center   
of the ball there was a distinctive shape of an eye, partially misshaped   
thanks to the swirling colours that surrounded it from all sides. 

For a moment the 'eye' seemed to be content on just hovering still, not   
even bobbing up and down or anything, just staying still as if standing   
upon an invisible pedestal. But that's when it turned towards Ranma, or at   
least it seemed so, there was no way of telling though, as it seemed to   
look the same from every direction. 

Ranma began to feel very, very uncomfortable under the unnerving gaze   
of the 'Evil Eye', and began to feel that something was about to happen,   
something bad and something that would make his life even more   
complicated than what it already was. 

Then as if answering its cue, the eye began to drift towards the boy with a   
ponytail, making the boy in question to take quick steps backward to keep   
the distance the same. The eye, however, did not stop following and was   
slowly driving Ranma towards the doorway with the old woman just   
staring at the unfolding events. 

"Hey! Don't just stare at there, do something!" Ranma shouted   
indignantly while pointing at the approaching object. "How do you stop   
this thing? And why is it following me in the first place? You said it was   
supposed to be dead, didn't you?!" 

Cologne didn't say anything and just kept staring, not at the eye though.   
She was looking at Ranma and thinking about the aura she had felt   
occupying his person, about the story she had just told him about the 'Evil   
Eye' and its owner, and now the sudden activation of the named weapon.   
"By the gods! Those idiotic fools sealed that sorcerer in Jusenkyo?!" she   
gasped with scandalized tone. 

That had to be it, nothing else could explain the curse the boy had and its   
reluctance to let him change back into his original form, and the   
reactivation of the eye. The demon sorcerer was back, but not in control   
of the body he occupied now if the boy's reaction to the eye, and his   
earlier explanation of having fought over the control of his body earlier on,   
were anything to analyse from. 

"Come on! Do something, can't you stop it somehow?!" Ranma shouted   
once again as he moved further back from the floating object. 

Narrowing old her eyes at the eye, Cologne began to wonder if there was   
really anything at all that she could do to help the boy. There was no   
other information of the Evil Eye other than that it had been a powerful   
weapon in the sorcerer's hands, so she wasn't quite willing to risk a   
complete disaster by simply attacking the eye straight out. But what else   
could she do? Just watch, wait, and see? 

But before she could make any decisions, the eye suddenly dove forward   
with its form diminishing into complete blur as it sped towards Ranma like   
shot from a cannon. 

All that Ranma could do in a situation like this was try dodging, but with   
the lack of space he ended up crashing against some of the furniture of   
the living room, or whatever room it was then, and quickly found his face   
mere inches away form the eye, its disturbing gaze seemingly boring right   
into his soul as he laid there on the floor, totally helpless under the   
captivating stare. 

From the library doorway Cologne watched carefully at the proceedings,   
feverishly trying to decide whether to risk attacking the eye or not. There   
was so little she knew of the old demonic relic and she hadn't lived for   
almost three hundred years by acting rashly. She needed to gauge the   
situation before acting. And besides, it didn't look like to her that the eye   
was intending to harm the boy. In fact it looked like it was just inspecting   
him, which brought her earlier thoughts back into the surface. 

"Could it really be that this boy has fallen into a spring that contained that   
sorcerer's spirit? And if so, then what should I do? If the boy has all the   
powers the sorcerer had, but none of the harmful memories and   
personality of the spirit he carries, then he might be a prime husband   
candidate to some of the younger amazons of our village…" the old   
matriarch's thoughts were interrupted as she realized that something was   
about to happen when there was a sudden build up of power right in front   
of her. 

It came from within the eye. 

"No!" she gasped and tried to knock the eye away from the boy with her   
staff, but all that it did was phase through it, leaving it unharmed. 

In the meanwhile Ranma had tried to make a quick escape after he saw   
the old woman making her move, but before he could even as much as   
get up from the floor he was encased by an sickly green aura that was   
sourcing into him from the now almost diabolical looking eye, the colours   
around its center having turned into solid looking blood red haze the   
quickly filled it without obscuring the eye itself from the view. 

To his great surprise Ranma did not find himself feeling any pain, or even   
feeling threatened by this new development. As while the energy pouring   
from the eye was definitely negative, something even he could sense, it   
was not trying to harm him as much as it was trying assimilating with   
him. 

Cologne noticed this too, her years of experience in the areas of   
manipulating and controlling the flows of chi allowing her to have knack   
towards things like this. There was a hint of worry on her face, as she   
looked energy transfer between the boy and the eye. There was no telling   
what consequences this event would have, the main reason why she   
hadn't tried something more drastic yet, and all that she was going to do   
now was to wait and see like she had originally intended. 

The two guards who had been standing outside the main door had rushed   
in and were now sharing the obscure even before them, but made no   
move to interrupt whatever it was that was happening there. However, if   
the matriarch gave the order, they would be ready to rush even into their   
deaths if she so required. 

Things on Ranma's view had turned from threatening to just weird. The   
eye was obviously not harming him and he even went as far as standing   
up, a motion that the eye imitated by hovering higher and keeping itself   
on his eyelevel while pouring more of its energy into the boy. The energy   
was not harmful, not on how Ranma felt it influence him. But he could not   
shake away the feeling of familiarity that he was getting from staring at   
the eye, that seemed to become more and more interesting by each   
passing moment he spent gazing at it. 

"What is this…?" he wondered out loud as he reached out to touch the   
eye, no longer repulsed by its appearance as much as he had been when   
he first saw it emerging from the blown up wooden box. "What is this   
feeling I'm getting from this thing…?" 

Cologne still remained silent, although vigilant as ever and ready to move   
on moment's notice. 

Ranma found the eye's surface surprisingly glass like, and solid despite   
the way Cologne's staff had phased through it as it if it had been a mere   
illusion. But then he pulled his hand away as he realized that the eye   
wasn't pouring energy into his body anymore, and that its pupil, or   
whatever it was, had expanded and was now starting to glow with eerie   
lights while making the rest of the room seem darker by each passing   
second. "What the hell is going on here?!" he exclaimed and tried to jump   
away from the eye but only to have it follow him unheedingly of his   
opinion. 

And then the eye made its move. 

A ball of energy, one that could have been described only as a large dark   
red blob, shot out from the eye and launched itself straight towards the   
helpless boy who didn't have the time to even exclaim his surprise before   
he was completely covered by it. 

From the other side the room Cologne had jumped on her feet and was   
now frowning deeply at what was happening and obviously worried of the   
boy's up coming fate. "I can still feel his chi, but it is changing and I'm not   
sure if this…thing, is devouring his chi…or feeding it?" she thought with   
her gaze hardening on the eye. 

The possibility that the eye might be devouring the boy's spiritual essence   
would have been catastrophic if the boy's life taken into consideration, but   
so was also the possibility that it might be feeding him with something   
harmful. However, either way, there was very little Cologne believed she   
could do right now. She had already once attempted to attack the eye,   
and only to fail miserably. "Is all that I can do right now just wait and   
watch?!" she thought to herself with a frustrated growl escaping from her   
throat.   


Then abruptly as the blob had born, it also dispersed, like a soap bubble,   
but this one looking like as if it had been made of blood. In the place of   
the blob there came a bright flash and disorienting colours swirled around   
the dark silhouette that stood among it, Cologne guessed it was Ranma,   
or at least she hoped it to be. 

As the lights subsided and the room became less tainted with the   
abnormal darkness, the figure of the familiar young teenager could be   
seen, but something was different. His clothing had changed, no longer   
the traditional white martial arts gi that he had been wearing for years   
now, but a large and regal looking dark red robes that had figurations of   
black flames sewn around its hem and golden ones around the baggy   
looking black sleeves. Even his skin had become more paler than what it   
had been before he came, bordering near the colour of pure snow. 

Then slowly Ranma raised his head from the bowing position he had kept   
it in, and then looked straight into 'Evil Eye', something unreadable   
flashing behind his eyes as he stretched his hand towards it once again.   
"…I…this eye…" he spoke slowly while the eye flew quickly into his reach,   
"…I know this…I do not know how, but I know… that this is mine, it is a   
part of me…something that I have missed…" 

It was as Cologne suspected, the demon sorcerer was back, but the only   
question that she was interested right now was how this transformation,   
or whatever it had been, had affected the boy's psyche, or had it   
remained as it was. "How are you feeling?" she asked as neutrally as she   
could. The two guards near her position were fidgeting nervously and she   
was forced to hold her hand up to give them the sign to stay back, for   
now. If he was not hostile, and if he truly possessed the legendary powers   
of that demon sorcerer, then they could not afford to make him an enemy   
of their tribe unless they could be sure to win. 

At first Ranma did not seem to acknowledge the question he had been   
represented, his attention glued to the eye that he was now holding in his   
hands like a precious treasure he had long lost and now finally found after   
seemingly endless time of separation. But then he answered, without   
taking away his attention from the eye though. "I am fine…I think," he   
held the eye between his hands and amazed how beautiful it was, at least   
in his opinion. 

"You think? You are unsure of this?" 

The boy shook his head at this. "No, I am sure," he said and then held the   
eye higher before letting it float again. It quickly moved behind his back   
and positioned itself slightly above his right shoulder as if imitating a pet   
bird of some sort, a real ugly one though. "In fact, I think I feel…" he   
paused for a moment, searching for the right word. "Wonderful…no,   
perfect. I can't remember a day I would have felt this…this complete." 

Cologne frowned at the boy's slightly changed speech pattern, proving her   
doubts that whatever the eye had done to him, it had definitely affected   
his mind. "It seems to me that the spring you fell held the soul of the   
demon sorcerer I told you about, boy. This would be the only logical   
explanation to the reactivation of the 'Evil Eye' and its attachment to   
you…" 

A light frown came over the boy's face, but then he jus cocked his head to   
the side and shrugged. "Oh well, not that it matters to me anymore," he   
said with almost indifferent tone while flexing his right hand in front of his   
face, his eyes examining at his fingernails that were now slightly longer   
and sharper looking than before. Then as if reading the old matriarch's   
thoughts he walked closer to her with his hands behind his back and said,   
"If what you told me is true, that there is no cure, then there is very little   
there can be done to my current situation, right?" 

The old woman nodded, slowly, her mind working feverishly over the   
possibility and fear that the demon spirit may have now taken over the   
boy's body. Giving the order to the two guards to attack would probably   
be for naught if she gave it, and she doubted she could make a difference   
if her danger senses were anything to trust at. She might have been old,   
but she wasn't completely senile yet. 

Ranma was obviously not worried anymore of his curse, or the new   
change he had just underwent, and even seemed to be slightly happier   
and more pleased with something than when he first came into the   
village. 

Turning his gaze towards the doorway Ranma narrowed his eyes   
threateningly at guards, as if wordlessly commanding them to step aside   
as he began to stride towards them. For a moment they hesitated   
between attacking and doing as their instincts told them, but it was the   
later that came as the only option when they saw their matriarch giving   
them subtle shake with her head. The boy was not to be provoked. 

"Where are you going?" Cologne asked as she quickly moved after the   
boy, wanting to keep close to him until he would leave the village. She   
wasn't concerned of loosing the relic as much as she was of the safety of   
the village. If the boy proved to be possessed, it would be much safer to   
deal with him outside the village premises and with better preparations. If   
not, then she would have other plans for him. 

"Where do you think?" he snorted and stopped as he walked through the   
doorway and to the outside once again. There he cast his gaze towards   
the heavens, his eyes squinting slightly as they adjusted to the bright light   
that made his purple irises shimmer. "I have no further use for you and   
thus there is no reason for me to stay, now is there?" 

Cologne narrowed her eyes at the boy as she caught the not so subtle   
threat he had just given to her. The boy had definitely changed. He   
possessed a more arrogant and confident air to him than what he had   
when she first saw him. Even his aura had begun to turn into more active   
state, washing her senses with sensation that made her bones shiver.   
There had been few people alive that she had ever truly feared, and this   
boy had just become a potential candidate to become one of them. 

The villagers, who had stayed around the matriarch's house out of   
curiosity, were all now staring at the outsider who had entered the house   
along with their village matriarch, no longer clad in the same clothes as   
when he had entered. 

However, it was the glass like ball that hung in the air just barely a foot   
above his right shoulder that drew the most attention, evoking feelings of   
fear and doubt from each of them. 

Ignoring the looks he was being given Ranma strode towards the center of   
the village opening with Cologne right on his heels. After reaching his   
destination he took a look around him and then turned towards the old   
crone with light frown on his face. "I guess you have already guessed that   
this is going to be the moment we say good bye, correct?" he asked while   
crossing his arms, hiding them into the sleeves in the process. 

Again Cologne nodded her slowly, never letting her eyes leave the red   
haired youth's. "I had the feeling," she admitted. "But what about your   
father? Aren't you going to wait for him?" she asked him, already guessing   
the answer. 

"Heh…you can keep him, I have no use for him either," the boy laughed   
coldly but then seemed to frown as if having a inner conflict. And for a   
moment Cologne could see his jaw clenching tightly, but then as quickly   
as it had come, it was also gone. "That fool has ruined my life enough, I   
think I can live without him from hereon…good bye." And after having said   
that he turned towards the east and begin to walk with steady pace, the   
villagers dispersing away from his path like a flock of birds. 

A series of murmurs began to spread among the present villagers quicker   
than a wildfire, all wondering what happened and what was the strange,   
dark feeling they had felt when the boy passed them. Cologne could have   
answered to those questions, at least to some extent, but she wasn't   
willing to risk having some young and reckless yahoo going after the   
outsider and possibly cause something that might jeopardize the existence   
of their entire village. 

This event would require the attention of the village council, but until that   
she would have to have a little talk with the boy's father. She wanted to   
let the idiot know what he has brought upon his son and possibly to all   
those who would cross the boy's path in the near future. And there was a   
nagging feeling in the back of her mind that there would be a lot of   
trouble trailing after that boy. 

"This cannot be ignored," she sighed to herself. She felt that she was   
partially responsible for what had occurred, for letting the boy to enter the   
house and for not having tried harder to stop the 'Evil Eye' from doing   
whatever it did to the boy. 

And so the ancient amazon went on and hurried onward to gather the   
village council to determine what should be done to this matter. 

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 

After having walked past the main gates of the village, and the gawking   
guards who had clearly hesitated on whether to attack him or not due to   
the disturbing object hovering right next to him. The fear, however, had   
kept them back. 

Ranma wasn't sure why he was feeling so good for having brought such   
feelings from them. He also didn't know why he had abandoned his father   
so easily, as even though he did mentally admit it that the words he had   
said rang with truth, but it still didn't give him the excuse to act   
dishonourably. 

"…dishonour…" the boy quietly whispered to himself as he stopped   
walking, his eyes cast down on the dirt road he had been walking right   
after leaving the village, the tall wooden walls surrounding the village still   
visible behind his back. He didn't turn around though and just continued   
onward again. 

"Screw with the old man!" he suddenly shouted with his face twisted in   
anger. Even though he found it strange how strongly he suddenly felt   
about the wrongdoings that his father had done towards him in the past,   
he could not stop himself from feeling utterly disgusted to be even related   
to that man. 

Then as if for the first time, Ranma looked down at himself and his   
clothes, his mind puzzling what exactly had happened in that house.   
"What's happening to me? I know this isn't my usual behaviour…" he   
muttered. He clutched his hands into fists as he realized they were   
beginning to tremble from fear, the last feeling he was usually willing to   
show. 

"Damn!!" And without even realizing he was doing it, Ranma sent a dark   
lighting bolt from his right hand, blowing it right towards the nearby grove   
that exploded with loud roar and black flames that quickly licked   
everything into ashes that was left on the blast area. 

At first there was shock on the boy's face as he realized what he had just   
done, but that quickly subsided into hard frown as he took a look at his   
hands again, a single question passing through his mind as he clenched   
them into fists. "What have I become?" And for a moment there was a   
tear threatening to fall from his left eye but he quickly wiped it off,   
unshed. 

"Is this part of that weird attack I had after I got cursed?" he wondered   
while gazing towards the heavens again, his eyes slowly tracing towards   
the hovering eye beside him with mixed feelings filling his mind. He was   
both disturbed by it, and yet at the same time he had this strong   
compelling feeling to keep it around. After all, it did hold a part of his soul,   
a fact that he did not know how he knew. It was just like saying that he   
knew that the sky was blue without knowing exactly why. He just simply   
knew. 

Sighing heavily the boy shook his head and continued his walk, not really   
knowing where he was going. "Man…I'd really like it if my life would stop   
turning into more and more messed up than what it already is…" And with   
those words he disappeared into the woods with the eye following him like   
a loyal dog follows its master. 

Ranma's mind was filled with doubt and uncertainty of what and how he   
was now, as he was quite certain, that whatever he had once been before   
his faithful trip to Jusenkyo, was over now and that there would be no   
going back. Not anymore. 

The threshold had been already crossed long ago. He wasn't just aware of   
it completely, as a small part of his mind still wished and prayed that it   
was not so. 

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 

"He did WHAT!!?" Genma bellowed from inside the iron cage he was   
imprisoned now, his hands trying to reach at the old woman through the   
bars. She had just awakened him and told him that his son had already   
left the village, saying that he no longer needed his father to run his life   
for him. 

"He left," Cologne repeated while looking a bit tired. "I know you may not   
see it this way yet, but believe me when I say that this is perhaps for the   
best, for all of us. Yes, even for you." 

This made the man look at her bit crossly, which clearly hinted that he   
had no idea what she was talking about. 

Deciding that the man at least had the right know his son's fate, she   
decided to give the quick and simple version of what has happened. This,   
however, did little to his desire to go after his son. 

"It doesn't matter even if the boy would be possessed by the devil   
himself," the man insisted while growling in frustration, "He still has a   
family honour to fulfil!" And his father's early retirement to secure, he   
mentally added to himself. As how else he could get it done? Just thinking   
about getting a real job sent shivers up his spine. 

Cologne just shook her head tiredly, seeing that the man had the brains of   
a monkey, greedy and single-minded. "Well it doesn't really matter how   
'you' feel, since you're not going anywhere. You still have your crime to fit   
here before you can leave, after that you are free to go wherever you   
wish." And after that she walked away and turned towards the village   
main building where the council would gather in less than half an hour.   
She had already given the orders to gather all the elders of the village,   
but was having a bad feeling that she had missed something. 

"I wonder where Shampoo is?" she suddenly realized. She hadn't seen the   
girl after their argument and was beginning to worry that her great   
granddaughter was going to do something regrettable, just as she had   
feared. 

Shampoo was well versed in the amazon laws and knew that while the   
village matriarch's orders were the highest commands possible, they did   
not have any power behind them if the order concerned an outsider who   
had already left the village area. 

"May the gods watch over her…" the old woman sighed while shaking her   
head. She didn't have the time to go looking for her wayward heir and   
relative, and knew that all that she could do right now was to pray. 

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 

Somewhere in a other plane of existence, in a place where time had no   
meaning, a single pair of worried red eyes was peering into the time   
streams. 

Setsuna Meiou, aka Sailor Pluto, was not happy. 

For unaccountable time she had existed only to protect and ensure the   
existence of the Moon Kingdom that had once fallen thousands of years   
ago and was destined to rise once more on earth. The only problem was   
that the future she had been planning wasn't in the time stream anymore,   
which usually meant that something unpredictable, an event that   
shouldn't have happened, had just occurred. 

"What is causing this?!" she exclaimed with a frustrated growl while   
gazing at the time streams. She had been searching for the source of the   
disruption from all over Japan, but had not found it yet, which was just   
the problem. The source of her current problem wasn't in Japan, not yet   
at least. And whenever she took a look into the future, all that she could   
see of the troublemaker was a vague blur of dark red haze. 

In time to time when events like this occurred, they were always   
connected to Japan, it was like a cosmic law. 

Sailor Pluto was about to learn that fate and future, did not always go   
hand in hand… 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++   
End of chapter…   
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++   
Next time: Once upon a time in China…   
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 

Author notes: Sorry that the making of this chapter took so long again,   
but I'm a busy person and got lots of work to do along with my school   
works, and the looming military service that I have to attend to in less   
than three months is coming an increasing headache too. But fear not, I   
may become slower, but I still will be writing no matter what…unless I die   
of course, so lets just hope that doesn't happen, mmmkay? 

Anyways, I'll be working on the 'When Fates Collide' after this again,   
found some inspiration yesterday and started to work on it. Hope I'm on   
the mood for some speed writing again… 

-Goenitz   



End file.
